West Equatoria

Western Equatoria State
State of Sudan (1976–2011) State of South Sudan (2011–2015)
1976–2015
Flag
Location in South Sudan
Capital		Yambio
History
•	Creation as a state of Sudan	1976
•	Became a state of South Sudan after independence from Sudan	2011
•	Reorganisation of states	2015
Area
	79,342.66 km2(30,634 sq mi)
Population
•	2008	1,619,029

Flag

Western Equatoria State was one of the 10 states of South Sudan. It had an area of 79,343 km². Its capital was Yambio. The state was divided into counties, each headed by a County Commissioner. Western Equatoria seceded from Sudan as part of the Republic of South Sudan on 9 July 2011.

Since the 16th century, Western Equatoria had been a home to the Avukaya, Azande, Baka, Moru, Mundu and Balanda.

The Mahdist Revolt of the 1880s destabilized the nascent province, and Equatoria ceased to exist as an Egyptian outpost in 1889. Important settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, Dufile and Wadelai. European colonial maneuverings in the region came to a head in 1898, when the Fashoda Incident occurred at present-day Kodok; Britain and France almost went to war over the region.[21] In 1947, British hopes to join South Sudan with Uganda while, living Western Equatoria as part of Belgium French Congo The Democratic Republic of Congo. But the plan was dashed out by the Rajaf Conference to unify North and South Sudan.

The administration of King Gbudwe was known as the Azande kingdom or Mbomu Kingdom of the entire Azande of, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Central African Republic and Equatoria (South Sudan) until the early 1900s, after when the British in-vain several attempt were finally able to captured King Gbudwe and killed him in 1905 which brought an end to the Azande Kingdom to present day. The Azande who is the majority in the state as well as the entire Western Equatoria, have had good relations with their neighbors, namely the Moru, Mundu, Pöjulu, Avukaya, Baka, Balanda and other small groups in Bahr El Ghazal, due to the expansionist policy of king Gbudwe, in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the Azande fought several Europeans colonials including the French, the Belgian French, British and the Mahdists to maintain their independence. Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Ismail Pasha, first attempted to control the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion. Egypt's first governor was Samuel Baker, commissioned in 1869, followed by Charles George Gordon in 1874 and by Emin Pasha in 1878.[21]

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